[Milsurplus] BC-650-A - IFF Stuff

[Mike Morrow]

>Well us few IFF collectors are still interested in filling in holes and 
>blanks in our collections and missing data.

That's a valuable undertaking.  When I said that the SCR-535-A IFF
wasn't much in demand, I was referring to the historical aircraft and ship
restoration projects that seem to be the most frequent consumers of these
IFF sets.  The SCR-595-A/ABK Mark III or the SCR-695-A/ABF Mark IIIG is
appropriate in almost any WWII ship or aircraft.  But the SCR-515-A/ABA
Mark IV and the SCR-535-A/ABE Mark II would be pretty much out of place
in a restoration of active service deployed craft.

I'd love to acquire a post-WWII USN AN/APX-2 set, but this seems to be one
of the rarest IFF units to find today.  

I was able to occasionally tour through the avionics maintenance shops
(except the section that maintained countermeasures gear) at Blytheville
AFB (SAC) 40 years ago.  I remember being surprised that the B-52s and
KC-135s were still using the AN/APX-25, which was a modified Mark X 
AN/APX-6 IFF.  The RT-82/APX-6 internal construction is, IMHO, a thing
of great beauty.  I'd like to know how much an RT-82 cost the taxpayers.

The ballistic missile submarine that I was on 35 years ago carried the
AN/APX-44 Mark XII IFF.  It was replaced by the AN/APX-72 in the late
1970s.  We normally kept IFF system power fuses pulled to prevent
activation.

Mike / KK5F